A Time to Reflect on 9/11

September 11, 2007 |

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This day is one of reflection.   We honor the memory of those who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.  Like many others in the financial industry, I lost friends and colleagues because of this terrible event.  It is difficult to think back to that day without conjuring up a host of emotions. Thinking about the people we knew and with whom we shared good times can be poignant.

Last week, I traveled to New York on some business and was blessed with the opportunity to stroll around the financial district for a time to reminisce and retrace old haunts.  I have not been back to the Wall Street area for some time — probably not since the attacks on September 11th, so it has been a while. 

Aside from the hole in the ground where the World Trade Center once stood, much of the financial district seems just as it had been.  The main difference is the barriers that now restrict vehicular traffic on Wall and Broad streets.  As I walked around in the brilliant sunshine, I noticed a certain sadness within myself.  This may stem from the WTC being missing from the scene, or perhaps, the reason is more subtle than that.  Revisiting places where I used to work is always a bit strange and unsettling.  Perhaps it is because I did not have to be anywhere in particular (for once) and when working there, I was always hustling from one place to another.

Although on the surface some of the stores have changed, banks have changed names (remember Manny Hanny or Chemical anyone?), bars are gone and replaced by new ones, but most of all, the people have long moved on.  They have either moved away, changed careers, started families, or are now almost physically unrecognizable because of gray or lost hair, added inches to the waistline and face lifts.  I sometimes wonder what happened to Dan, Lenny, Joe, Lorraine, Karen, Tim, and the list goes on.

The World Financial Center is still there.  I have always loved the atrium with the palm trees.  A nice touch and as I sat nicely ensconced under the palms sipping a latte, I reminisced about the good times working at Oppenheimer, the Shearson merger with Lehman (wow, was that a bad move), friends at Dean Witter who used to refer to the place as “Dean Witless”, the Pipeline bar (now gone), and watched the mega yachts bob up and down in their births.  There are still many many empty store fronts in the WFC- even after all these years.  It is too bad the Barneys closed its shop in the WFC.  It had a nice selection of men’s apparel.

The one bright spot was my visit to the Hickey Freeman store next to Trinity Church.  I have a weakness for HF, especially their cufflinks.
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